To reassure you Mr. Cain is moving forward with his campaign, here are official statements released to the media and others: (Feel free to share.)
To: Iowa Cain Supporters
From: Steve Grubbs, Iowa Cain Chairman
As you may know, a new accusation was leveled against Herman Cain yesterday. On a conference call this morning, Mr. Cain made several important points:
1) He reiterated that he had tried to help Ginger White with her problems and tried to get her on her feet financially.
2) He discussed the emotional toll these allegations had taken on his family, but emphasized that he was moving ahead with the campaign, including a foreign policy speech tonight in Michigan
3) He said the campaign was reassessing where it was similar to the reassessment that was made after the Iowa Straw poll and the Florida straw polls.
This is what I take from the call and what I believe:
1) News reports have been quick to report the allegations, but few have been fair about reporting the background of the accuser. Credit to the New York Times for including this paragraph in their story:
New York Times, 11-28-2011: "Ms. White is an unemployed single mother. Before the interview, Fox learned that she had filed a sexual harassment claim against an employer in 2001. That case was settled. The station also found a bankruptcy filing nearly 23 years ago in Kentucky, and several eviction notices in the Atlanta area over the past six years.
The station also reported that Ms. White had a former business partner who once sought a "stalking temporary protective order" against her for "repeated e-mails/texts threatening lawsuit and defamation of character." The case was dismissed, but it was followed by a libel lawsuit against Ms. White. A judge entered an order against Ms. White because she failed to respond to the lawsuit, Fox reported"
2) Both John McCain and Bill Clinton had similarly difficult times in their presidential campaigns (McCain in the summer of 2007 and Clinton during the fall of 1991) and they both weathered the storm and emerged to be their parties' nominees.
3) I believe in Herman Cain and his ideas. We need to get back on message and make it to the Iowa Caucuses. My request is that you don't let anyone pick your candidate based on these allegations. We have a strong Iowa ground game and we are looking forward to making it to January 3rd with a strong team intact.
Thank you for your support and thank you for taking a long view of our sometimes challenging electoral process.
Cain Campaign, Iowa State Director, Larry Tuel's statement:
"We are building a great ground game for Herman Cain in Iowa, and we have nearly 900 precinct captains in place.
Nothing that has occurred has changed our plans. Whatever reassessment is going on in the national campaign, our mission is to keep building our ground game in Iowa and prepare to storm the gates January 3rd.
Despite the allegations and overwhelming press coverage, we have an increased number of supporters since yesterday and our list of precinct captains continues to grow. The only conclusion I can draw is that Mr. Cain's support is not waning. Certainly our supporters are looking for an explanation and we provided it to them. We are all believers in Herman Cain in this office and are looking forward to seeing this campaign through to the Iowa Caucuses."
Response from Cain's national campaign spokesperson, JD Gordon:
"It's a reassessment of where we stand and the road ahead, similar to other times in the campaign's history.
Mr. Cain told staff simply that, just as every time significant events occur, a reassessment is prudent. A good businessman looks at the entire landscape before making decisions. He is, and has been, committed to promoting the issues and solutions that will make this nation stronger. Nothing about that has changed.
We're looking forward to getting back on message tonight with the Foreign Policy and National Security speech at Hillsdale College in Michigan."
